Bleach Fantasy Round 9: Coyote Starrk vs. Squall Leonhart (Lonesome Warriors)

                               

See these two 8@6@$$e$? You don't wanna F*Ck with them because one wields a gun blade and the other wields 2 pistols. Either way, you're either getting sliced up or shot up. Both are lonesome warriors are either frightful of making friends or fearful of them dying. While some seems to dismiss the very idea of friendship temporarily, the other embraces it, feeling like he's a part of something despite all of them one by one falling to the Shinigami. Today's matchup is a battle of quick-draws ~ who'll shoot first - Coyote Starrk from Bleach or Squall Leonhart from FF VIII? The matchup will include the following: Backstory/Role in Story, Powers/Abilities, & Verdict (By Stillmattic). FF currently lead 5-3 against Bleach. As said before, my portions will be noted in Blue and MechG2994's in Purple. The titles are noted in Yellow.

Backstory/Role in Story (Coyote Starrk)
Before Coyote Starrk was introduced as the 1st Espada under Aizen's army, he was alone out in Hueco Mundo ~ bringing death to just about any Hollow that comes near him. Starrk tried to coexist with the other hollows, but it only caused them to lose their souls and die. That is why Starrk's aspect of Death is Loneliness ~ he simply can't be around people without them dying. Starrk wanted to become weak ~ believing he can be closer to hollows if he were on the same level as him. This way, Starrk wouldn't be able to bring death to hollows without a fight and he can coexist with them. In his attempts to escape Loneliness, Starrk split his soul into two ~ Lilynette Gingerbuck. Despite not being remotely similar to another, they suspected that their original appearances correlates to nothing ~ just accepting that one is split entity of another without any comparisons other than just having each other's company. Starrk's willingness to become weak stems from his fear of being alone and resorting to splitting his soul into two just managed to give him some company and a person whom he can talk to (despite it being a part of him). If he, however, couldn't become weak ~ he wanted someone just as strong as him (On why, I don't know. This may stem from the idea that he wants someone to be strong so their on par with Starrk's existence). It wouldn't be long before Starrk and his other-half, Lilynette, roamed Hueco Mundo together in attempts to ease their Loneliness and make friends or find someone strong enough to tolerate them. Upon this, they discover Aizen's presence and he was neither fearful or weak when confronting them. Aizen, calm and collected, approached them warmly and with a helping hand ~ wanting to ease Starrk (and Lilynette's) Loneliness. Aizen was impressed of the mountain of hollows that died before Starrk, but insisted that he (and Lilynette) join his ranks. Finally, Starrk (and Lilynette) have a place to call home with other Espada who can tolerate them. It's a dream come true...

Starrk is first seen upon the birth of a new Arrancar (meant specifically to thwart Captain Yamamoto's Zanpaktou), Wonderwiss. However, Starrk was really introduced when Aizen assembled the Espada in forewarning them of the invading Ryoka (Ichigo, Uryu, & Chad). Upon entering to take his seat, Starrk told everyone to shut up because he's tried and lazy (which is his personality). After hearing of the 9th Espada, Aaroniero Arruruerie, was killed by Rukia Kuchiki, we get a glimpse of both Starrk and his split soul persona ~ Lilynette Gingerbuck. Despite being female, she's playful and often likes teasing Starrk, but questions whether Starrk will do anything about Aaroniero's death. Starrk's comment, short and sweet, in response to Aaroniero's death ~ I don't know. Starrk doesn't appear until way later in the Hueco Mundo Arc where he is forced to retrieve Orihime on Aizen's orders. And finally the Fake Karakura Town is where Starrk plays a pivotal role as he, alongside Baraggan & Harribel, are the only Espada left (excluding Ulquiorra's fight in Las Noches & Grimmjow, Nel, & Gantenbainne's whereabouts). Coyote Starrk reveals he's the 1st Espada to-then Captain of the 8th Division (now current 1st Division Captain), Shunsui Kyoraku. After a series of witnessing Kyoraku's attacks, and trying to outplay him in his game, he releases his Resurrecion (with Lilynette pretty much as his release) & Wonderweiss intervenes, leaving Kyoraku flustered with Ukitake's heart punctured. Seeing this as an opportunity to free all the Espada who are in trouble with fighting the Shinigami, Starrk takes his shot at Kyoraku and shoots him point back from behind. While Kyoraku was "disposed of," the Visored show up as back-up for Ichigo in hopes to turn the tide of the battle in the favor. Rose & Love, former 3rd & 7th division Captains turned Visored challenged Starrk, but the battle abruptly came to an end when Kyoraku was revealed to actually be alive and managed to cut down Starrk using one of Kyoraku's Zanpaktou abilities ~ The Colorful Demon (Irooni). Starrk (with Lilynette) fell victim to Kyoraku's blade as he dies ~ knowing that he wasn't alone for the first time.

Backstory/Role in Story (Squall Leonhart)

Squall’s mother, Raine, died shortly after he was born and his biological father, Laguna never knew that Raine was pregnant with Squall as he was saving their adopted daughter, Ellone from Sorceress Adel (talk about a tragic lose-lose situation for Squall’s early life). As soon as Ellone was rescued, Laguna sent her back to Winhill, where the couple was residing when Squall was born, and both her and Squall were sent to Edea’s Orphanage on the Cetra continent. When Squall grew up in the Orphanage, he didn’t make a lot of friends as he only grew close to Ellone and viewed her as an older sister though he wasn’t aware that Ellone is actually his adopted sister. When Ellone developed the ability to send a person’s consciousness back in time, she was moved away to avoid danger, leaving Squall all alone and feeling as if he needs to move on without anybody being a part of his life. When Squall attempted to find Ellone’s whereabouts, a teenage version of him traveled in time to meet with Edea, who would become one of the founders of the anti-sorceress force in SeeD. After that encounter, Edea foresees that Squall would grow up and kill an evil sorceress, thus establishing SeeD along with her husband, Cid. By the time Squall was six, he was admitted into the Balamb Garden to start training as a SeeD and trained with the most difficult weapon, the gunblade. During his training, Squall found a worthy rival named Seifer who mirrors him in terms of skills and knowledge of the gunblade.

Eleven years since his training, Squall has been regarded among peers as well as his superior, Quistis, as a “lone wolf” because though Squall has a lot of talent, he can be at times a head case due to his loneliness state of mind. Because Squall mastered the use of the Guardian Force (FF8 term for summon), his memories of being abandoned by Ellone is there, but he can’t remember her face. His rivalry with Seifer was the top-tier rivalry within the Balamb Garden. During Squall’s duel with Seifer during a field exam, the two put permanent scars on each other’s faces. While recovering in infirmary, Squall encounters a blurry figure who remembers him, but she leaves before Squall can get a clear vision. Squall manages to recover and was given a new Guardian Force by Quistis and placed in Seifer’s squad for a field exam in Dollet. During the exam, Seifer defies direct orders and abandons the team, leaving Squall as the temporary leader to ensure that his team evacuates Dollet successfully, which they did and back in the Garden, Squall graduates along with his fellow SeeD comrades, Selphie, Zell, and Nida. In the inauguration ball, Squall meets Rinoa, who forces him to dance with her (one of the most memorable cutscenes in FF8). Squall is sent on a mission to Timber to assist the Forest Owls to free the area from Galbadia control by kidnapping the President, Vinzer Deling. The plan was eventually foiled when a rogue Seifer captures the president, causing a little friction between SeeD and the Forest Owls and the relationship between Squall and Rinoa goes off to a rocky start once Rinoa starts questioning his cold-hearted personality. Squall’s next mission was to assassinate the sorceress revealed by the president as the ambassador for Galbadia. There, during the mission, Squall encounters his former caretaker Edea and his rival after Edea killed the president, but Squall gets knocked unconscious from Edea’s sorceress powers. After a couple events, including the Battle of the Gardens between the Galbadia and Balamb Gardens, Squall manages to defeat Edea and Seifer and Edea reveals she was possessed by another sorceress in Ultimecia and tells all she knows about the evil sorceress. However during Squall’s battle, Rinoa fell into a coma and Squall starts sharing concern that he starts to seek out his adopted sister again to use her ability to see what happened. Squall takes Rinoa to the continent of Esthar to a space station where he finally meets Ellone after a long time and requests her to use her abilities to save Rinoa. Basically in that time frame, Squall tries to free Rinoa from her comatose, but Ultimecia possesses her body to revive sorceress Adel in the Lunar Base and Squall eventually saves Rinoa from drifting into space and eventually rescuing her again after Esthar wanted to put her into cryosleep because they were afraid of her sorceress abilities that she obtained from Edea. After meeting his biological father Laguna and enacting a plan to stop Ultimecia, Squall, along with his friends, travel to the Lunatic Pandora, he frees Ellone, defeats Seifer, defeats Adel, and confront Ultimecia in the future. Squall manages to defeat Ultimecia and reunites with Rinoa and the rest of his SeeD friends in the Balamb Garden.

Powers/Abilities (Coyote Starrk)
Coyote Starrk, being the 1st Espada under Aizen's tutelage, possesses immense spiritual power and thus is forbidden in releasing his Zanpaktou within Las Noches because he could potentially do more harm than good in doing so. Despite his laidback and lazy demeanor, Starrk is a master swordsman as he was able to counter Kyoraku's twin blades, an expert in Sonido (being able to teleport within a few seconds in retrieving Orihime while avoiding both Ichigo & Kenpachi). Like any other Arrancar, he can fire Cero, but unlike everybody else, he can fire a Cero without using a "fighting pose" on any part of his body. He is also keen in battle ~ quickly observing the mannerisms, actions, strengths/weaknesses, and abilities of his opponent. His true power, however, lies in releasing his Resurreccion ~ Los Lobos (Wolf Pack in Japanese alongside Lilynette as his release). In his resurreccion, Starrk's strength and precision in firing Cero is intensified. Starrks signature weapon (with Lilynette talking humorously) is twin pistols that can fire multiple Ceros ~ being able to fire 1,000 at once. When using Cero Metralleta (Infinite Ammunition Hollow Flash), he can fire a barrage of Cero that appear fused together as a single blast, but the fearsome power of this attack lies in his ability to change the direction of where the Cero go. Another thing that makes Starrk a formidable foe is his enhanced Hierro (Steel Skin), being able to withstand Love's Shikai and come out unscathed. Aside from his twin pistols, Starrk can summon spiritual energy swords (much like Kuwabara in YYH) from his bandoleers which he used to combat Kyoraku's Zanpaktou, but a fearsome and eerie ability of Starrk's is summoning wolves that acts as bombs when come in contact with anything or anyone. One wolf was able to destroy a good portion of Fake Karakura Town and look at what more it could do when inflicting damage on a living being ~ Astronomical I tell ya. In other words ~ Don't mess with the Wolf or you'll get the fangs (Pun intended, lol). 

Powers/Abilities (Squall Leonhart)

As mentioned, Squall is a proficient user with the gunblade due to his time spent training to use the complicated weapon and he has the ability to use a Guardian Force. His highest stats are in Strength, Vitality, and Magic. Going back to the gunblade, regardless of model has high accuracy, which makes Squall the most proficient melee fighter out of the whole party. His Limit Break, the Renzokuken delivers multiple damage and wrapped up with a finisher and there are four finishers: Rough Divide, slicing an enemy vertically releasing an explosion, Fated Circle, jumping in the air, charging energy into his gunblade, spinning and unleashing a shockwave, Blasting Zone, charging up the gunblade with energy and slamming it to the ground to release it, and Lion Heart, his most devastating finisher that strikes an opponent several times dealing great damage.

Verdict (By Stillmattic)
And the winner is...

After quickly evaluating these two, it's pretty clear that Starrk's backstory AND role in story are tragic compared to Squall's. I will admit though, Squall's weapon and transformation of character is most interesting and dynamic, but as I said ~ sometimes a blank slate is better than a slate with everything. That was why I chose Starrk ~ his character alone is a blank slate ~ you don't get much with this guy. He brings death to those around him, he feels empty at the very sight of being alone. He wants to become weak, feeling like he can stoop to the level of Hollows without doing harm. In desperation, he splits his soul into two, believing that it could be a coping mechanism from all the death he brings. He wants something whose strong, a point in which Starrk either wants someone to tolerate him or to meet his end at the hands of someone who can tolerate him. This is Loneliness, an aspect that this Espada carries dearly, but cannot escape up until his bitter end.  Being the strongest Espada, you'd think he'd be all high & might over his own power and rank ~ but not Starrk. Starrk only wants companionship and he finally realizes that he has that, but that was only when he met his end at the hands of Kyoraku. With Squall, his slate took a turn for the better ~ he made friends, is a protagonist, and had people who genuinely cared for his wellbeing. Squall's life has a rough start, but in the end it all worked out ~ a character whom we want to see aspire for greater and better things. With Starrk, it was bittersweet and his aspirations weren't enough to keep him from Death' door ~ he has a place to call home, a father-figure (Aizen) who aspired great things for him, brethren who were able to tolerate him (despite most of them being dead), and died knowing that it wasn't all that bad. Starrk's powers too, in my opinion, can greatly outmatch Squall's. In terms of agility, resurreccion, weaponry, and being the 1st Espada under Aizen's tutelage ~ Starrk can mop the floor with Squall and his gunblade. This is why Starrk, the 1st Espada, is the victor of this BF Round.

So who do you think would win a fight? Coyote Starrk from Bleach or Squall Leonhart from FF VIII? Comment below and let us know. As always, look forward to Bleach Fantasy posts every Monday & Friday all throughout May posted between 8am-11:59pm. The next two BF Rounds (10 & 11) will be chosen and decided by MechG2994. Until then, stay classy Bleach fans! FF leads 5-4 against Bleach (As of May 9th, 2014).